GOA --- The Wonder time

Since you have endured the unending saga of our woes while getting from Bangalore to Goa, let me get onto the part which actually made me write this post in the first place. The wonder that I experienced and the miracles which happened. It was as if God wanted us to enjoy each and every moment of our time there. We did. More than I could hope for or imagine. It was one of the best vacations which I had in a long long time and it was actually the 'Dil Chahta hai' time of my life. It not only rivaled the one shown in the movie but actually surpassed it in many ways. Let me reminiscence.

Day 1:
After reaching Calangute and meeting up with Vinay and Arko at our ‘pad’ we just crashed out for some time and later in the evening went to palolem beach. The atmosphere was heavy with our pain and lament, and generally mellow except few episodes of bare-chesting and beer. We had our grub in the evening, had a long walk up to baga beach before boarding a taxi and heading back home. Immediately after reaching home and an ensuing short fight between the other three about who sleeps in my room, we just slept. I slept like a dog and I guess harshivl did too. Wondering about the short fights? No, no, I am not gay. It’s just that I snore and others find it a bit inconvenient in the night.

Day 2:
Next morning we woke up early and rushed to get our bikes. There was an offer for 2 bikes by our house-owner (auntie) but we wanted to get a better deal. So I and Vinay wasted more than an hour to find a cheaper option. It was funny as we met with funny people who said funny things, but it was not funny for others who were waiting for us back home. Finally we did go with Auntie's offer and had our breakfast and I also got a glimpse of auntie's daughter. Oh sorry, I forgot about auntie's daughter. It so happened that Vinay and Arko had seen auntie's elder daugter and were smitten by her beauty and elegance. They built up this atmosphere of romantic intrigue overnight, so much so that I and Harsh were more than eager to catch a glimpse of 'her'. Finally when I did see her, it was a let-down and I thought that auntie's younger daughter was better, a young-bud who would make some men very happy one day (Vinay was sure that she already had). Vinay even had the guts and gumption to ask auntie to allow her daughters to come with us to TITO'S , the most popular club near calangute. She politely refused saying that her elder daughter had her college exams coming up.

Anyways, after getting the bikes we left for one magical Saturday (and sunday). We headed towards Anjuna at high speeds on narrow but lovely roads, with myself in shorts and a beach-shirt which I let open to enjoy the breeze bare-chested, besides having cool glasses and really long hair to add to the effect. That was my first 'It' moment. We raced against each other, cutting sharp turns and elongated sweeps. It was lovely. However the love ran out just before we had reached Anjuna. Vinay's bike was empty on gas. We had to push our bikes to the nearest petrol pump which amazingly was not very far away. I would like to mention how we managed to do that. One bike had some fuel left on which sat Vinay and I was perched on the dry one. Vinay drove his bike and pushed my bike with his left foot. Man! was it hilarious or what. I had to do the juggling act and I used all of my skils to prevent bumping into Vinay's bike. Finally after refueling and reaching Anjuna, we enjoyed the beautiful view besides having a humble breakfast. By this time, we all had got rid of our shirts, and were displaying our skinny frames to the crowd, who thought it was brazen and rude. Anyways, we had a nice time at the main Anjuna where the rocks are , and headed towards the real Anjuna. Driving through some impossible roads, and briefly stopping to have a peek at some topless beauties sunbathing in some isolated spots. The real Aujuna was really good, isolated and serene, with lots of topless people around. I had seen nudity in Barcelona so I wasn't in awe, but the other three really were. You could see their jaws dropping as bras dropped around them in tandem. We hung around that place more than I wanted to, but then I had to let the boys feel sated. In the meantime, I enjoyed the company of some really beautiful Indian girls (I am sure that they were professional models). I was sitting just a few feet away from them but couldn't muster the courage to go across and say 'hi', even though they were giggling and passing glances (or was it my imagination). You can't blame me as I am genetically and culturally predisposed to do that. I would prefer eating a grenade rather than introduce myself to some girl. We left Anjuna by late afternoon and headed towards Shapora fort, brought into limelight by the movie 'Dil Chahta hai'. But we were nailed before we could reach there. It was a bit weird when we changed tires in a small village whilst other guys placed orders for roasted shrimps. We traveled far to get the puncture fixed and believe me the nail which came out was the largest that I have seen in my entire life. It could've brought down a truck, let alone our humble bike. Shrimp masala was nice, especially after fixing the tire and putting it back into its place. The rest of the drive to Shapora was uneventful, and we reached late but just in time to catch a glimpse of that beautiful sunset. Ahh!! It was just beyond words. We hung around on the fort walls at the same spots as seen in the movie, had our DCH pics and ended up having a hot debate about fidelity in women.

By the time we had figured out that it was getting late, it was late. Guys, the ascent to the fort is not easy and there is lot of loose gravel on steep incline, with deep abyss ready to consume who falter. The descent was scary, it was pitch dark and we couldn't see a thing. We had our sweat-filled descent using the light of our cellphone screens. Hum literally G* bhitha bhitha ke neeche utere, with lots of slips and slides. We were holding onto each other and dear life, except Vinay who was walking as if he had night-vision googles on. Once we finally reached our bikes we kissed earth and headed back home as we had plans for the big saturday night party. Oh yeah, I'd like to mention the barber episode. Vinay wanted to get a clean shave and hence we stopped at a local barber's roadside shop. Can you believe that Vinay haggled for 5 bucks? After finishing the shave the barber asked for 10 bucks and Vinay, after lot of haggling, paid only 5. Cheap Bastard!

Anyways, on our way back we saw lots of people going to a kinda fairgrounds. We decided to check it out and after lots of deliberation we got in. Boy, was it worth it or what. My advice is that if you are in Goa then never, I mean never miss out on the Saturday Night Mela. It is rumbunctious and a super-sensory experience. You have a true rustic international mela with concerts, dances and lots of people selling lotsa stuff. It was 90% non-indian crowd and that crowd was truly international. We saw so many food-stalls which were being operated by non-indians. Infact, we all had some food at a Greek food-stall and it was delicious. The ambience was outstanding and, myself and Harshivl must have taken more than a 100 pictures there. Girls were really really beautiful, infact Vinay fancied 2 Indian girls who had just walked in. He did his romantic eye-ing circus at which he's so adept, and finally after mustering a lot of courage walked up to the one in short-skirts and asked her out, only to be rudely rejected. I believe the reason was that he was badly dressed, and stinking and had not shaved by then so had this thick goon-ish beard. Infact we all were stinking and badly dressed, with my putting on a blue 'shiva' kurta which I bought there. All in all we had a lot of fun there and it was an experience to remember. Reaching home, we all bathed, changed into party clothes and headed to Tito's, the most famous party place there. Problem : How do we get in? Stag-entry was 1200 bucks and couple entry was just 500 bucks. We waited and waited thinking 'what to do', and had almost given up hope when Vinay caught these 4 chicks outside and asked them to pose with us as couples. They could anyways get in for free, and were reasonable enough to agree. They were god-sent, else how would you explain 4 single girls materializing when we were about to leave. We went in and then it was ecstasy. We danced and boogied all night with so many side-events that I even can't remember them fully. We left at around 5 a.m. after really experiencing what 'party all night' really means. And the highlight was : remember the 2 girls who ditched Vinay at the Bazaar just an hour ago, well they were there at Titos, and since Vinay was all shining and handsome after his shave, bath and fresh attire, now the girls were eyeing him (not being able to recognize him from earlier). He thought for a while, then went up to them with a wry smile and said "You just missed a great opportunity tonight, mistake big mistake". First the girls were still in awe and smiling but as soon as they realized what had happened, they were red-faced and left!!!!! Now that is how the cookie crumbles.

Day 3:

We woke up pretty late, ate lunch and slept again, and woke up for good late afternoon. The plan was adventure sports and we did. I tried Jetski and parasailing whereas Harsh only parasailing, Vinay only Jetski and Arko none. Jetski was not that much fun but parasailing was amazing. I do recommend it to anybody visiting Goa. It is an amazing feeling to soar like a bird in the sky. I guess Harsh enjoyed it too, but Vinay that cheap SOB did not coz it was abt 500 bucks per person. After finishing off with all the adventure sports, and having blood pumping through our veins we scooted through the streets of baga and calangute shirtless in the night, though after having a small booze party on the beach. I understand that I, Harsh and Arko were drunk and were supposed to behave weirdly, but it was Vinay who went into the sea in his cotton 'chadi' and was giving playgirl poses in the water to the chagrin of people passing by. I duely captured his excesses in my camera to be used in blackmail sometime in future. Later we stopped to eat at a place, and promptly went to another one coz Vinay wanted to leave. I was mad at him, and that combined with my fatigue from previous night made me into an asshole. I was mad at everybody and anybody, even Harsh. Everybody else was wondering why they were seeing an ass instead of a face. I left before before Harsh and Vinay finished their dinner, was pissed off and tired. Slept well with a fight breaking out between the rest as to who would sleep in my room coz of my loud snoring and my being an AH.

Day 4:

The day on which we were supposed to leave. Woke up early morning and headed straight to the beach. Had our morning sea-bathing ritual with dunkings and splashings, and found out that there was a beach volleyball court nearby. Luckily the guy who owned the beach cafe also had a volleyball. For the next 2-3 hours we played game after game of beach volleyball. It was so much fun that we didn't want it to end. In our briefs, sweating and oiled bodies with sunglasses, we were one hot bunch of cool dudes. We used to play a game, then relax in the beach shack and enjoy food and cold drinks, then play again. Amongst all the games, the most memorable was the last one in which I and Vinay paired up to wreck vengeance on Harsh and Arko. It was a true David Vs Goliath or Underdog game. I even joked that the only thing interesting was the final score, i.e. the margin by which I and Vinay would beat them. However, as the game started and progressed it was the underdogs who turned the tables on us. Vinay was under tremendous pressure and thus goofed on several occasions. It became like a high-pressure India-pakistan game, with both sides fighting for dominance. It went to the wire, with the climactic smash by Harsh who leaped upto almost 7 feet , and which made me dive to save the ball but I ended up biting the dust literally and figuratively.

Thus ended our magical vacation in Goa. It was an amazing and magical time which I won't forget for the rest of my life. There were so many sidenotes and events which I haven't included in this passage, which if you were to see from my eyes would've been just incredible. So when we bid farewell to each other, which included a high-speed bike ride against time to another town to get Vinay onto his train, it was with a promise that we will have such reunions again in the future to celebrate the time of our life, and our friendship.